Sacred Texts: Legends and Sagas

Teutonic Myth and Legend: Chapter XXXVIII. The Land of Gi...

Summary only - full text stays on its own separately-gated source. Read the full text at the source »

This is a chapter from *Teutonic Myth and Legend* (1912) by Donald A. Mackenzie, a retelling of Germanic heroic legend in the tradition of epic myth compilation. The passage recounts a series of adventures of Dietrich of Bern (a legendary figure based loosely on the Ostrogothic king Theodoric), as he rides toward Jochgrimm mountain. The central narrative follows Dietrich's nocturnal forest duel with the young giant Ecke, who sought him out to prove his worth and win a princess; Dietrich kills Ecke when his loyal horse breaks the giant's back, then dons his armor and wields his magical sword. Subsequent episodes pile on further trials — combat with Ecke's stronger brother Fasold, a monstrous beast, and a dragon — each resolved through a mix of heroic valor and fortunate circumstance, ending with Dietrich reaching the treacherous princesses' castle, killing the oath-breaking Fasold, and returning to Bern. The chapter closes with a coda about jealousy between Dietrich's knights Heime and Witege, with Heime eventually turning outlaw after their quarrel. Mackenzie's retelling is straightforward prose adaptation without scholarly apparatus, aimed at popular readers interested in the Germanic mythological tradition comparable to Norse saga and Arthurian legend.

Teutonic Myth and Legend: Chapter XXXVIII. The Land of Gi...

Related pages View as graph →